Encounters of the strawberry kind
by xfmoon
Summary: 2 people, 3 meetings, 4 shampoos. A Timeless and the Mentalist crossover. When at the supermarket you never know who you might bump into.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is just a little silly crossover between The Mentalist and Timeless. Apparently this summer is giving me crazy ideas.

 **The Mentalist spoilers:** up onto 3x24 Strawberries and Cream.

 **Timeless spoilers:** up onto 2x6 The King of the Delta Blues.

 **Setting:** I don't know if I need to clarify the setting. It takes place at three different points in time for both the characters in both shows, should be chronological accurate. Hopefully it's easily deduced from the story.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to Timeless or The Mentalist, any and all strawberry encounters are not gonna change that.

* * *

He wasn't freaking out, or panicking or anything like that; Patrick Jane was just a bit overwhelmed. Or that's what he kept telling himself at least. Being a new father was quite a handful, who knew there was so many things you had to know and do to take care of an infant? It was wonderful, no doubt about that, he had just never imagined that all the worrying and no sleep would be this stressful too.

Right at this moment he was standing in aisle 4 at their local supermarket, trying not to freak out, no, he was definitely not in some sort of frenzy over the fact that there were what seemed like 3 million different bathing articles for babies. Angela had sent him to the market, at an ungodly hour, for supplies; diapers, formula, baby shampoo, wash cloths, 117 other things more and adult food – her word, not his – that was all she could come up with after a week of zero sleep, not that he blamed her, he just wished she could have been a little more specific on a few things, so he wouldn't look like such a crazy person trying to decide what to buy.

He took out a bottle of shampoo and looked at the label. The list of ingredients went on and on and on. Who knew there were so many possibilities, so many things to choose from? There where bottles for straight hair, curly hair, dry hair, greasy hair, chemically treated hair, which sounded a bit weird when it came to children, he thought. Then there were organic shampoos, and dandruff shampoo, the brands you knew and those you'd never heard of, brightly colored shampoos, natural white shampoos, odorless shampoos, and a whole wall of assorted scented shampoos; with flowers and fruits, exotic and not the not so exotic. Then came the mixtures; shampoo with conditioner, and shampoo with lotion. He really was at a loss. Maybe he should just choose one at random. Charlotte didn't have that much hair yet anyway; did it really matter that much? Would Angela even care, she was probably too tired to even notice if it wasn't the right one? He ran a hand through his golden curls as he considered his options. The "spirits" was not of any help in this situation.

Another customer smiled politely at him as she walked by. He couldn't help but use his mentalist "powers" to analyze this other late-night shopper. She had shoulder length brown hair was slender build and had kind eyes. And he was pretty sure that she was in the teaching profession. She looked for a moment at the shampoos smiled at what he figured was a happy memory then walked a bit further down the aisle stopped and picked up a few different items that she lay in her shopping cart. He was pretty sure she was single, and didn't have kids, but maybe she could still teach him a thing or two about shampoos. He figured it was his best shot, as neither the store clerk nor anyone else was in the immediate vicinity.

"Excuse me." He said as he walked over to where she was standing.

She looked up at him, and after a split second of deciding that he wasn't a threat she smiled again. "Yes." She said.

"Do you know anything about kids' shampoo, my wife sent me to pick up some stuff and I seem to be a bit at a loss."

"Not really, no, sorry." She could see that he was disappointed. So, she scrutinized her brain once again, considering something that might be helpful and then added: "I do know that my little sister loved her strawberry scented shampoo when she was a kid, she still uses the fruity kinds these days, but she's a bit of a nutty one, so I don't know if you want your kid to turn out that way, all because of the wrong choice of shampoo." She said it with a twinkle in her eyes and a broad smile.

The immense love for her sister shone straight through her whole being, which almost made him want to add another addition to the family right away. Charlotte needed siblings like that, but it might be a little too early at this point. "I'm sure she's not that bad." He said.

"No, she's not." She admitted. Then she cocked her head sideways and looked more directly at him. His perfectly cut blond curls that somehow still managed to be messy in a frantic new parent kind of way. His fancy suit that no one in their right minds would wear at this hour and which didn't exactly scream helplessness but rather privilege. He already knew that he had been recognized when she asked: "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

He wasn't one for being modest, not in the least and so he answered. "You might have seen me on TV."

She narrowed her eyes a bit, concentrating. "You're that psychic... hmm Patrick Jane." She said with glee over having remembered.

"The one and only." He confirmed and asked courteously: "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Lucy." She said as if she'd wrongly forgotten to introduce herself to the stranger in the store.

"Ah the bringer of light, that makes sense." Was his cryptic answer.

She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but she was a bit intrigued by his whole persona, as he seemed a bit different from the person she'd seen on TV. "I consider myself pretty open, I'm just not sure if I fully believe in all that stuff, but the way you help the police is very honorable, I must say."

She wasn't one of the people who immediately upon recognizing him wanted a demonstration of his powers, which he liked. But he also liked showing off, it would only be a bit though, because of the late hour and the lack of sleep. So, he hit her with a sure zinger. "Teaching young minds is an honorable profession as well."

"How did you...?"

She was surprised by his insights but she wasn't as taken aback as he would have liked, so he added: "I was never much of a student myself, but maybe if I'd had you as a teacher I would have paid more attention in history class."

Her mouth was now practically agape.

He smiled at her, knowing he'd hit a homerun. It was best to leave your audience in awe so he held out his hand and shook hers. "Thank you for your shampoo expertise; I've always loved strawberries, so I might just go with that, though there are probably at least 10 different varieties on the shelf."

"Try the strawberry and cream one; it always reminded me of milkshakes." She added.

He quirked up an eyebrow. "And that's a good thing?" He questioned.

"Definitely." She smiled in confirmation

"Okay, I'll leave you with some advice as well then. You shouldn't live your life for anybody else. And tenure is not everything. Go out, find love, live a little."

To Lucy, just then he sounded a bit like he was channeling her sister, who was always telling her that she should make her own choices and not care so much about what their mom thought about it. So, she couldn't help but look at him with a mixture of awe and perplexity for having pegged her so spot on.

He, in the meantime, grabbed the nearest strawberry and cream shampoo that he could find. She felt a bit nostalgic after their encounter and thought 'what the heck I might as well surprise Amy with her favorite shampoo' and so she picked up a bottle of strawberry shampoo herself.

They exchanged pleasantries and then both walked their separate ways.


	2. Chapter 2

_A few years later._

He recognized her instantly even though they'd only met that one time, and the fact that it had been a few years. Her hair was longer, and she looked a bit thinner too. She was standing in aisle 4, staring at the shampoos, but he suspected she wasn't really seeing them, as it looked like her mind was a million miles away. He searched his mind palace for her name, and found it attached to his daughter's shampoo; 'Lucy'. He walked closer, but she didn't seem to notice his approach. By the looks of it the years hadn't been kind to her either. She looked about as haunted as he felt.

It wasn't until he was standing right next to her that she became aware of his presence and almost jumped out of her own skin out of sheer surprise. "I was told once that the strawberry ones will make you crazy."

"What?" She looked up at him like he was insane for making such a statement, and why on earth would he direct it at her. After searching his face for a few seconds, recognition seemed to spark her memory, and a small, tight smile formed on her lips – it was nothing like the ones from a few years back; those smiles had lit up her entire body. "Patrick Jane, the psychic. We meet again, but maybe you already knew that that was going to happen."

He cringed inwardly at the use of the word 'psychic' and flashed back to the night they'd met and how he'd tried to impress her with his powers; like he always used to do, back then. But that was his old life, now he was all about helping, or at least helping those that deserved it, and Lucy didn't strike him as being undeserving. "There's no such thing as psychics." He said automatically.

A puzzled look came over her face and he felt the need to explain, so he gave her the Cliff Notes version. "I'm not psychic, just observant; I notice things that other people don't. The rest of it is just cheap mental tricks really."

"But you knew all those things about me..., and about those murders on tv."

"Most of that was fake. There are no ghosts or recently deceased or loved ones that are telling me these things. It's just people and seeing the connections."

"Yeah, everything's connected, isn't it?" She said more as a statement than a question.

"It is." He agreed.

After a more thorough and scrutinizing look she stated: "There's something different about you."

"Likewise." He shot right back. "Someone from your life is missing?" He guessed.

She should be surprised, but wasn't after what he'd just told her. "Yes, my sister." Then it dawned on her that he probably wouldn't remember her having talked about her sister last time they'd met, as he was from a different timeline, one where Amy didn't exist at all. However, they _had_ talked apparently, how else would he have remembered her? But exactly how they'd gotten to strawberry shampoo without Amy she didn't know, and probably never would either. So, she deflected: "And you? What happened to you?" She questioned, as she wasn't a mentalist and therefore couldn't deduce it herself, though she saw the change in his demeanor.

"My wife and child were murdered." He said with downcast eyes.

She gasped. "That's awful, I'm so sorry."

He nodded his thanks. "What happened to your sister?" He asked being the one to divert the conversation this time.

"She disappeared. It's hard to explain."

"Yeah, okay." He said with a bit of apprehension as he couldn't quite get a good read on her on that one. He was pretty sure she hadn't murdered her sister or any other shady or sinister business like that, but there seemed to be something strange about this whole disappearance thing that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She didn't seem like she wanted to discuss it further and he didn't want to pry any more than necessary, so instead he just pointed at the shampoos and said: "We'll always have the memories of those we love, no one can take those away."

It made her smile a little, but the gloom still hung around the both of them. If only he knew how easily memories could be taken away as timelines changed and created an infinite amount of alternate realities, she thought. Sure, she had her memories of the original timeline, and in a way the memories he had was original as well to the reality that he lived in, it just wasn't hers. So, she was the stranger here, the one that didn't fit in; the jigsaw puzzle piece in a game of dominos, wondering if she'd ever get to return to her own game. She couldn't tell him any of that of course, he was nothing more than a person she'd interacted with a few times. Only her time travelling team could really understand what she was going through.

Still she couldn't imagine having her whole family murdered. The pain, though different from hers, was still valid, maybe even more so, as she had the slightest chance of getting her sister back, while this man would never see his family again. Even if they changed the timeline again, he would be a different Patrick Jane. He might never have married or have had a different family; maybe he'd never been born. Hell, maybe none of this was supposed to happen in her timeline, but who knew anymore? They'd changed history so many times; stomped on so many butterflies that so much wasn't as it should be anymore. It just kept getting worse never better. And she had to bear the cross of knowing, and remembering.

In a way they were both cursed with and by their memories. The mentalist by seeing too much and never forgetting, and the time traveler by being forced to live in an alternate reality, while still being able to recollect "the original" timeline.

None of them bought any shampoo that day. Smells have a very strong tie to memories, and the smell of their long lost loved ones' shampoo brought back too many of them for either of them to handle at that moment.

They said their goodbyes and left the store.


	3. Chapter 3

_A few years later._

She was the one that saw him, standing in "their" aisle; aisle 4. He didn't look as downtrodden as he'd done the last time. And she was in much greater spirits as well. "Finding what you're looking for?" She asked, hoping this timeline version of Patrick Jane would still know her, otherwise he might think she was just working here trying to get him to buy something.

He turned around and looked at her. When she saw recognition on his face she added: "We really should stop meeting like this."

"Lucy." He said with a smile that reached all the way to his eyes. "So, we meet again." He took in her appearance and his smile, if possible, widened even more. "You look well."

"Thank you, so do you." She said and meant it. He seemed lighter somehow, like a long-lost shadow had lifted its firm grip on his whole being.

"I guess both of our luck has changed."

"So, what brings you to aisle 4?" She asked.

He held out the bottle he'd been holding in his hand for her to read. "More shampoo, of course." He said as he did so.

She read the label; 'Strawberry and passionfruit' and said: "Nice choice; Passionfruit. Taking a walk on the wild side I see." But she'd also noticed something else. At the top left corner, with big red dancing letters was sprawled the words: 'Kids shampoo'.

He saw her looking and already knew the unformed question in her eyes, he smiled knowingly. And stepping a bit to the side he pointed down to the end of the aisle where a woman with long brown, wavy hair was trying to keep a toddler from running off on her. A police badge at her left hip caught the light and Lucy's eye. She had read about his tragedy after their last meeting, seen photos of his wife and daughter, all smiles and blonde curls. This was not them. So their time travels hadn't brought them back, like so many other dead wives. Yet the woman still looked familiar somehow and the little boy with his curls, though darker in color, was a dead giveaway, there was no doubt about it, this was Patrick's son. She glanced at his hand and saw a ring on his finger.

"Yes." He said plainly. "I got remarried, and the shampoo is for him."

"Congratulations." She said involuntary touching her own wedding band.

"Looks like I should say the same." He said after having spotted her gesture and the ring. "I see that you took my advice and found love."

"It was more like it found me actually." She said, and then she mirrored his movement from before and stepped aside revealing a man with a little girl on his hip further down her end of the aisle.

By the looks of it, the way the man kept a trained eye on Lucy, Patrick figured he was military, with a pretty high rank too. "Looks like we both have a thing for law enforcement." He said teasingly.

Lucy still didn't know how he did it. Even with Wyatt dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt his profession apparently still shone through. But it had been the same way when they'd met Miss Grace Humiston, she had guessed he was a soldier right away as well, by the way he carried himself, and because of his concealed weapon; which he however wasn't carrying with him to the grocery store, she would never allow that, not unless they were on a mission. "I see you haven't lost your touch." She marveled.

"Nah." He said almost embarrassedly and moved on. "You're here for the plain strawberry kind, I take it."

"Yes, it makes me remember the good times, while adding new memories." She said as she cast a brief and lovingly look in her husband and daughter's direction.

"As it should." Patrick agreed.

She took a bright red bottle down from the shelf saying: "I'm so happy that we met again, under better circumstances this time."

Patrick nodded: "Until next time then. Maybe it'll be college tuition and shampoo care packages we'll be discussing by then."

"Let's hope so." She said wistfully.

He couldn't have her walking away being too melancholy so he tried to instill some positivity into her contemplation: "You know Lucy; time changes all of us." He said knowingly as he walked away back over to his little family.

She looked at him in disbelief. Did he know? Could he have deduced her secret with his mentalist powers? No, she shook her head, he didn't believe in ghosts or spirits or the afterlife, why should time travel be any different. Some days she even questioned her own sanity. If it wasn't for how different her life was now from only a couple of years ago, she would not believe it; time travel, how could she even entertain the idea? Still it was a bit strange. But no, his choice of words was just a coincidence. She thought to herself. Random, like their meetings had been, and yet meaningful. Besides she had experienced stranger things than this. Things he couldn't possibly imagine to be true or figure out even with his keen abilities.

Wyatt walked over to her as she stood lost in her thoughts, following Patrick Jane and his family with her eyes until they were out of eyeshot behind the next aisle. Wondering about what the chances were of him knowing about their little time travelling adventures, and what knowing would mean for them. It was a long shot by far, and probably not one she should worry about.

Anyhow it didn't matter much anymore, as her time travelling days were long over. Ever since they'd stopped Rittenhouse for good, gotten married and had a child, she had sworn she would never step foot in a time machine again. Not even to get her sister back. The chances of changing her present, of erasing her family, and the life she had now was just too great of a risk.

"Are you ready to go, or are we missing something?" Wyatt asked.

"Let me just check." She ran through their grocery list.

"I think we have everything we need for taco night with Jiya and Rufus. But I just suddenly got such a craving for strawberries, and we need some herbs too, I think we should at least buy some more thyme." They both smiled at her little wordplay and the three of them headed over to the produce section.

There was no doubt about it; they could always use some extra time.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, I know The Mentalist is set in Sacramento and Timeless is set in San Fransisco, but it's all California (I know it's big, but it would have been worse if it was across the globe right), so shhh don't tell anyone and please just ignore that fact.

Originally, I was just going to make the first two chapters, the idea for the third came during my writing. And thank God for that, because I needed a happy ending.

Had a thought 2/3 way through writing this that made me make a small change; this fic would probably not work time travel wise seeing as Jane is from the timeline without Lucy's sister the 2nd time that they meet, so he wouldn't have remembered Lucy, or at least not having had the same conversation with her. Dammit, time travel really does mess with your head, and ruins my brilliant fic idea :/

I don't have kids, so I don't know if scented kids shampoo is a thing. But being a part of both The Mentalist and the Timeless fandom I thought it was a bit funny that they both choose strawberry scented shampoo, so I just wanted to write some sort of parallel crossover thingy, which turned out like this.

Oh, and it's been what feels like ages since I wrote Patrick Jane (say that out loud and it just sounds wrong hehe). If you Timeless people don't know The Mentalist he's kinda like Miss Grace Humiston aka Mrs. Sherlock Holmes. Go watch the show, it's great, and vice versa, all ya Mentalist peeps go watch Timeless!

Was proofreading this while waiting for the heliclockters and the live stream from SDCC. It was glorious! Clockblockers are amazing. Someone please #SaveTimeless.


End file.
